Results 13,321-13,340 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The building project to which the Deputy refers to is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, Stage 2(b) detailed design stage, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been secured. The Design Team are currently completing the Stage 2(b) submission which the Board of Management will submit to my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to primary schools is published annually on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. Budget 2012 increased the appointment...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: insertheading (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: This is an operational matter for Cork Education and Training Board (CETB).  I have made arrangements for CETB to reply directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts for the 2017/2018 school year is set out in the Staffing Schedule (Circular 0017/2017) which is available on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware I ran a public consultation process from 24 January to 20 March 2017 on the role of denominational religion in the school admission process and possible approaches for making changes. Approximately one thousand written submissions were received. As this is a public consultation, submissions may be published in due course on my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware I ran a public consultation process from 24 January to 20 March 2017 on the role of denominational religion in the school admission process and possible approaches for making changes. I believe that it is unfair that preference is given by publicly-funded religious schools to children of their own religion who might live some distance away, ahead of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that under my Department’s Additional Accommodation Scheme, it is open to schools to submit applications for devolved funding in respect of NCSE approved special classes in cases where an accommodation requirement has been identified and where the school cannot accommodate the class within its existing building.   The average cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Literacy Programmes (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Education and Training Boards, funded through SOLAS, provide a range of programmes to cater for literacy and learning needs of adults, details of which are published in the annual FET Services Plan. The number of places planned and the allocation for each of these programmes in 2016 are set out in the following table: Programme *Planned Beneficiaries of FET Provision in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Professional Development (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department has also put in place an Occupational Health Strategy as a supportive resource for teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs), to promote their health in the workplace, with a focus primarily on prevention rather than cure. The Occupational Health Strategy comprises of the Employee Assistance and Wellbeing Programme and Occupational Health Services. These services cater for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Costs (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Joint Oireachtas Report on school costs was published in 2013. "Irish educational policy must return to the value of free education, an ideal which must drive educational policy at local and national level. Given the wide ranging nature of the issues raised in the report it is not feasible to provide an estimated cost for its implementation. Notwithstanding this, I wish to make...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. The scheme provides for the allocation of a quantum of SNA support to schools, taking into account the assessed care needs of individual children with disabilities, or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Funding for special education provision in 2017 will amount to some €1.68 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 19% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training and represents an increase in spending in this area of 12% over the last two years. This year, 13,015 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are available for allocation to primary and post primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body with particular functions including planning and co-ordinating the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for the provision of a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Expenditure (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to examine the adequacy of current special education access and funding provision. In addition the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Policy Advice on Educational Provision for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders was published in July 2016. In developing this policy advice,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for 1. Early educational intervention for children with autism who meet the schemes eligibility criteria 2. Students with special educational needs seeking an educational placement in a recognised school  3. Students, enrolled in schools, with significant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department provides funding to schools towards the cost of assistive technology, for educational purposes, to assist children with special educational needs in Primary, Post Primary and Special schools, in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0010/2013. In order to qualify for equipment under the scheme, a child must have been diagnosed with a physical or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides a range of resources for pupils with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), of which Dyslexia is one such SLD. My Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychology service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Grants (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The ancillary grant is paid to primary schools.  The table sets out the information requested by the Deputy in respect of the rate of ancillary grants for primary schools from 2007 to 2017. The 5% reduction in the ancillary grant reflected the 5% FEMPI salary reduction that schools were required to impose on all staff employed by them under the grant. The salary of secretaries and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: There is no cap in place for language support teachers. The level of extra teaching support provided in respect of language support to schools is determined by the numbers of eligible pupils enrolled and the associated levels of those pupils' language proficiency. Reforms introduced in the 2012/13 school year created s single simplified allocation process for both learning and language...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Start Programme (12 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Early Start programme has centres in 40 DEIS primary schools in Ireland.  In terms of the budgetary allocation to Early Start, my Department pays capitation grants at the rate of €95.23 per enrolled student and other grants amounting to €4444.09 per full unit and €2475.99 per half unit for materials, equipment and parental involvement allowances to each...